32 people shot and killed. Here's some of their profiles

Ross Alameddine, 20, was a student from Saugus, Massachusetts. The sophomore English major was shot during French class, a family friend told The Associated Press. A Facebook page created in Alameddine's memory called him "an intelligent, funny, easygoing guy who will be greatly missed."


Christopher James Bishop, 35, taught German at Virginia Tech and helped oversee an exchange program with a German university. Bishop decided which German-language students at Virginia Tech could attend the Darmstadt University of Technology to improve their German. "He would teach them German in Blacksburg, and he would decide which students were able to study" abroad, Darmstadt spokesman Lars Rosumek told the AP. The school set up a book of condolences for students, staff and faculty to sign, along with information about the Virginia shootings. "Of course many persons knew him personally and are deeply, deeply shocked about his death," Rosumek said. Bishop earned bachelor's and master's degrees in German and was a Fulbright scholar at Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany. According to his Web site, Bishop spent four years living in Germany, where he "spent most of his time learning the language, teaching English, drinking large quantities of wheat beer, and wooing a certain fraulein." The "fraulein" was Bishop's wife, Stephanie Hofer, who also teaches in Virginia Tech's German program.


Ryan Clark, 22, was known as "Stack" to his friends in the Marching Virginians college band. The Virginia Tech senior came from Martinez in Georgia and was a "true example of 'The Spirit Of Tech'," according to a message posted on the band's Web site. He majored in biology and English, and carried a 4.0 grade-point average, according to the coroner in Columbia County, Georgia. Clark was a resident assistant at West Ambler Johnston Hall, the dormitory where he and another person were shot dead at 7:15 a.m. Monday. He had been planning to pursue a doctorate in psychology with a focus in cognitive neuroscience, according to the Marching Virginians Web site


Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, a French instructor at Virginia Tech, was instrumental in the creation of the first French school in a town in Nova Scotia. She lived there in the 1990s with her husband, Jerzy Nowak, the head of the horticulture department at Virginia Tech. Richard Landry, a spokesman with the francophone school board in Truro, Nova Scotia, told the AP that Couture-Nowak was one of three mothers who pushed for the founding of the Ecole acadienne de Truro in 1997. "It was very important for her daughters to be taught in French," Rejean Sirois -- who worked with her in establishing the school -- told the AP. A student who identified herself as DeAnne Leigh Pelchat described her gratitude to Couture-Nowak on a Web site. "I will forever remember you and what you have done for me and the others that benefit from what you did in the little town of Truro," Pelchat wrote in French. "You'll always have a place in my heart."

Caitlin Hammaren, 19, of Westtown, New York, was a sophomore majoring in international studies and French, according to officials at her former school district. "She was just one of the most outstanding young individuals that I've had the privilege of working with in my 31 years as an educator," John P. Latini, principal of Minisink Valley High School, told the AP. Hammaren graduated from the high school in 2005. "Caitlin was a leader among our students." Minisink Valley students and teachers shared their grief Tuesday at a counseling center set up in the school, Latini said.


Kevin Granata, age unknown, was one of the top five biomechanics researchers in the country and was working on movement dynamics in cerebral palsy, the head of the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department at Virginia Tech said in an e-mail to the AP. He served in the military and conducted orthopedic research in hospitals before coming to Virginia Tech, the AP said. Granata's academic career included stints at Johns Hopkins University, Ohio State University, the University of Virginia and Wake Forest University. "With so many research projects and graduate students, he still found time to spend with his family, and he coached his children in many sports and extracurricular activities," engineering professor Demetri P. Telionis told the AP.


Jeremy Herbstritt loved to chat so much, high school classmates voted him "Most Talkative." "Talkie, talkie, talkie, everybody likes to talk," read the description in the 1998 graduate's Bellefonte High School yearbook. Below was a picture of Herbstritt, with a sly grin, talking on a pay phone. Herbstritt, 27, had two undergraduate degrees from Penn State, one in biochemistry and molecular biology from 2003, and another in civil engineering from 2006. He grew up on a small farm just outside the central Pennsylvania borough of Bellefonte, where his father, Michael, raised steer and sheep. He wanted to be a civil engineer, and he talked of getting into environmental work after school. "He liked to work on machinery, take a lot of stuff apart and fix it," the victim's grandfather Thomas Herbstritt, 77, of St. Marys told the AP. "He was a studious kid."

Emily Jane Hilscher, 19, a freshman majoring in animal and poultry sciences, was known around her hometown as an animal lover. "She worked at a veterinarian's office and cared about them her whole life," Rappahannock County Administrator John W. McCarthy, a family friend, told the AP. Hilscher, of Woodville, Virginia, was a freshman majoring in animal and poultry sciences. She lived on the same dorm floor as victim Ryan Clark, McCarthy said. A friend, Will Nachless, also 19, said Hilscher "was always very friendly. Before I even knew her, I thought she was very outgoing, friendly and helpful, and she was great in chemistry."


Matthew La Porte, 20, of Dumont, New Jersey, was studying political science and French at Virginia Tech. He was also a member of the Corps of Cadets, the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets band, the Highty-Tighties and the U.S. Air Force ROTC, according to his MySpace page.


Jarrett Lane, 22, was a senior civil engineering student who was valedictorian of his high school class in tiny Narrows, Virginia, just 30 miles from Virginia Tech. His high school put up a memorial to Lane that included pictures, musical instruments and his athletic jerseys. Lane played the trombone, ran track, and played football and basketball at Narrows High School. "We're just kind of binding together as a family," principal Robert Stump told the AP. Lane's brother-in-law Daniel Farrell called Lane fun-loving and "full of spirit." "He had a caring heart and was a friend to everyone he met," Farrell said. "We are leaning on God's grace in these trying hours."


Liviu Librescu, 76, was a Holocaust survivor who, his son said, will be remembered as a hero. He "blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," Joe Librescu told the AP. "Students started opening windows and jumping out." The elder Librescu, a professor at Virginia Tech, was recognized internationally for his research in aeronautical engineering, the head of the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department at Virginia Tech told the AP. He was born and received his advanced degrees in Romania


G. V. Loganathan, 51, was a professor of civil and environmental engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. Since coming to Virginia Tech in 1982, he earned the Outstanding Faculty Award, the Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Faculty Achievement Award for Excellence in Civil Engineering Education, according to his biography on the Virginia Tech Web site. Loganathan, of Tamil Nadu, India, lived with his wife and children on Virginia Tech's campus, according to the Times of India.


Daniel Perez Cueva, 21, of Peru, was killed while in a French class, his mother, Betty Cueva, told the AP. Perez Cueva was a student of international relations, an interest driven by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He spoke four languages, loved soccer and swimming, and was a member of the Honor Society, his friends said. "I'll miss his smile and his laughter," friend Donald Smith told CNN. "We're missing a friend, a very good friend."

Erin Peterson, 18, died while she was in her French class, said her dad, Grafton Peterson. The last time he spoke to her was during a visit at school on Sunday, he said. A fan of "old-school" TV shows like "Diff'rent Strokes" and "Sanford and Son," Peterson described herself on what appears to be her MySpace profile as a "jeans and a t-shirt girl." Friends left anguished messages on her profile as news of the shootings first spread. The messages now recall fond memories of graduation and prom night. "You have no idea how much my heart aches knowing I'll never see you again," one message read.







[edit on 18-4-2007 by Shar]

Juan Ramon Ortiz, 26, who was from Puerto Rico, was teaching a class as part of his graduate program in civil engineering at Virginia Tech. The family's neighbors in the San Juan suburb of Bayamon remembered Ortiz as a quiet, dedicated son who decorated his parents' one-story concrete house each Christmas and played in a salsa band with his father on weekends. "He was an extraordinary son, what any father would have wanted," Ortiz's father, also named Juan Ramon Ortiz, told the AP. Marilys Alvarez, 22, heard Ortiz's mother scream from the house next door when she learned of her son's death. Alvarez said she had wanted to study in the United States, but was now reconsidering. "Here the violence is bad, but you don't see that," she told the AP. "It's really sad. You can't go anywhere now."


Mary Karen Read, 19, was born in South Korea into an Air Force family and lived in Texas and California before settling in the northern Virginia suburb of Annandale. Read considered a handful of colleges, including nearby George Mason University, before choosing Virginia Tech. It was a popular destination among her Annandale High School classmates, according to her aunt Karen Kuppinger. She had yet to declare a major. "I think she wanted to try to spread her wings," Kuppinger told the AP. She said her niece had struggled in adjusting to Tech's sprawling 2,600-acre campus. But she had recently begun making friends and looking into a sorority. Kuppinger said the family started calling Read as news reports surfaced. "After three or four hours passed and she hadn't picked up her cell phone or answered her e-mail ... we did get concerned," Kuppinger said. "We honestly thought she would pop up."


Reema Samaha, 18, was a first-year student of Lebanese descent at Virginia Tech and went to the same high school in Centersville, Virginia, as the shooter, Cho Seung-Hui. Her father, Joseph, described her as a "shy girl till you got to know her." She was looking forward to majoring in urban planning with a minor in international relations because "she thought she could solve the problems of the world," her father said. Samaha, remembered as a beautiful and creative dancer, performed the weekend before the shootings, which marked the last time her parents saw her alive. "I keep her in my mind," her father said. "Her face is in my mental vision. It keeps me going."

www.cnn.com...

[edit on 18-4-2007 by Shar]

This is only 17. If you can find some whom I have not added feel free to add them.

This is just so sad.

This is really too bad. I am sure many of those people had aspirations to do many good things in life. It's a shame that so many have to lose their lives due to a man's hatred for life. It's a shame indeed.



[edit on 18-4-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

I can't do this anymore. I can't.

What a total waste of some bright and intelligent people by someone who was clearly sick with hatred for the rest of the human race. None of them deserved a death like that I can only hope that something good will eventually come of this sick young man's actions. This was the act of a madman I hope there is not going to be another repeat of it. May they all Rest In Peace.

Victims in VT massacre

If only we could do this with the people that die in Iraq too, I mean it seems like people think a 21 year old american guy dying is more tragic and sadder than a 21 year old iraqi guy dying.

Its a sad thing that all these tragic events happen in this world.

No, offense, but can we lay off of the Iraq thing for a little while?

thankyou bluesquareapple,

I'm going to go ahead and figure which one's I have up here and add the rest.

Ok lets ignore the people who suffer and die there every week, and only think about americans.

Sorry phoenix but I don't think this is the time or place for mentioning that mess that is going on in Iraq and that's something we are all ashamed of but this is an entirely different set of circumstances.

Yeah ok your right, maybe not the right forum, but all I said was that it would be nice if we get to know the people who die in iraq liker these profiles too, were they mothers fathers? teachers? kids? etc.
So its related, because I was talking about the profiles.
Anyway, carry on.

I am extremely sorry for all of the losses endured at VT. However, with all due respect, almost 200 people were blown to bits today in one city in Iraq. These students had wonderfully successful lives that they got to enjoy. These people getting blown up and shot in Iraq have endured more misery than any of us could probably comprehend.

That said, we have the tendency, as a nation, to value our own as something more than the rest of the world's... It is disrespectful and inconsiderate of us. The scale of tragedies such as this really need to be put into perspective...

30 Students and it is a year long media frenzy.

200 Iraqis of all ages, third page news...

Brian Bluhm, 25, was born in Iowa and raised in Detroit, according to friends. Bluhm was an ardent fan of the Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball team, which announced his death before Tuesday’s game against Kansas City.


Austin Cloyd, 18, was a freshman majoring in international studies and French. Cloyd, from Blacksburg, was so inspired by an Appalachian service project that helped rehabilitate homes that she and her mother started a similar program in their Illinois town, her former pastor said....


Matthew Gwaltney, 24, was on the brink of finishing his graduate degree and was planning to return to his hometown for a new job and to be near his parents. He was a master’s student in civil and environmental engineering and was attending Virginia Tech on a fellowship, his father, Greg Gwaltney, said Wednesday from his home in Chester, near Richmond. “Matt came home Thursday night. He had an interview in Richmond Friday morning, and we got to have dinner with him,” said Linda Gwaltney, his stepmother. “He went back to school Friday after his interview.” It was the last time they saw their only child......

Rachael Hill, 18, of Richmond, Va., a freshman. She had graduated from Grove Avenue Christian School. Hill, an only child, was popular and funny, had a penchant for shoes and was competitive on the volleyball court. “Rachael was a very bright, articulate, intelligent, beautiful, confident, poised young woman. She had a tremendous future in front of her,” said Clay Fogler, administrator for the Grove Avenue school. “Obviously, the Lord had other plans for her.” Her father, Guy Hill, said the family was too distraught to talk about Hill on Tuesday, but relatives were planning to have memorial events later in the week. “We just need some time here,” he said tearfully.


Henry Lee, also known as Henh Ly, was the ninth of 10 siblings whose family fled to the United States from Vietnam, arriving in Roanoke in 1994. Friends described the diminutive Lee, a 20-year-old freshman computer engineering major, as a serious student who wasn’t necessarily a serious person. A Virginia Tech classmate who lived in Lee’s hall, Nathan Spady, described Lee as “an extremely bubbly guy, always ready to go.” ......


Partahi Lombantoruan, 34, of Indonesia, was a civil engineering doctoral student. He had been studying at at Virginia Tech for three years, said his father, Tohom Lumbantoruan, a 66-year-old retired army officer. Lumbantoruan’s family in Indonesia said they sold off property and cars to pay his tuition and that his goal was to become a teacher in the United States. “We tried everything to completely finance his studies in the United States,” said his father. “We only wanted him to succeed in his studies, but ... he met a tragic fate.”.....



Lauren McCain, 20, of Hampton, Va., an undergraduate majoring in international studies. On her MySpace page, McCain listed “the love of my life” as Jesus Christ.
Her family said McCain became a Christian some time ago.....


Daniel O'Neil, 22, of Lincoln, R.I. A graduate student in environmental engineering, he also played guitar and wrote his own songs, which he posted on a Web site, www.residenthippy.com. Friend Steve Craveiro described him as smart, responsible and a hard worker, someone who never got into trouble. "He would come home from school over the summer and talk about projects, about building bridges and stuff like that,” Craveiro said. “He loved his family. He was pretty much destined to be extremely successful. He just didn’t deserve to have happen what happened.” .....

Minal Panchal, 26, a first-year building science student from Mumbai, India, according to foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna. She wanted to be an architect like her father, who died four years ago. Panchal was very keen to go to the United States for postgraduate studies and thrilled when she gained admission last year, said Chetna Parekh, a friend who lives in the bustling middle-class Mumbai neighborhood of Borivali, where Panchal lived before coming to Virginia Tech.....

Michael Pohle 23, of Flemington, N.J., was expected to graduate in a few weeks with a degree in biological sciences, said Craig Blanton, Hunterdon Central’s vice principal during the 2002 school year, when Pohle graduated. “He had a bunch of job interviews and was all set to start his post-college life,” Blanton told The Star-Ledger of Newark. At the high school, Pohle played on the football and lacrosse teams.

Julia Pryde, age unknown, was a graduate student from Middletown, N.J.She was an “exceptional student academically and personally,” said Saied Mostaghimi, chairman of the biological systems and engineering department where Pryde was seeking her master’s degree. “She was the nicest person you ever met,” Mostaghimi told The Star-Ledger of Newark....

Waleed Mohammed Shaalan, 32, of Zagazig, Egypt, was a doctoral student in civil engineering, the university said. Shaalan was married and the father of a 1-year-old son, according to the Muslim Students Association at Virginia Tech. “He was the simplest and nicest guy I ever knew. We would be studying for our exams and he would go buy a cake and make tea for us,” Fahad Pasha, Waleed’s roommate, said on the association’s Web site. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that the Egyptian embassy in Washington was taking steps to fly his body home.



Leslie Sherman, age 20, was a sophomore majoring in history and international studies. “She had a lot of friends, and was a very outgoing person,” recalled friend Ann Marks, who worked with Sherman in the cafeteria. An avid traveler, she was headed to Russia this summer to study, said her grandmother, Gerry Adams. Sherman, from Springfield, Va., had visited Boston and London with her mother; she visited her grandparents in Kennewick, Wash., last month for spring break, Adams said. Sherman — who was named after her grandfather, Leslie — loved reading and socializing with her “gaggle” of more than 15 cousins spread out at colleges across the country, Adams said. She text-messaged one of them the evening before she died. “She was so happy. Life was going so well for her,” said Adams, who described the family as “just beside themselves” with grief.


Maxine Turner, 22, from Vienna, Va., was a senior majoring in chemical engineering. Turner had finished her required credits and was preparing for her May graduation but took German as an elective, said her father, Paul Turner. The 22-year-old was shot in the German class. “She was very excited — she was very excited about school in general,” her father said.....

Nicole White, 20, of Carrollton, Va., was a junior majoring in international studies and German. White graduated from Smithfield High School in 2004, according to The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk. White worked at a YMCA as a lifeguard and was an honor student in high school, the newspaper reported. Her family was planning a news conference Thursday in Suffolk.

Some I couldn't get the images to work. Others don't have any.


STILL THE SADDEST!!

It's all sad extremely sad. Look I did not mean to ruffle anyone's feathers about my comments on the Iraq issue being out of taste here but it is. I am well aware of the bombings that have happened yesterday but that's entirely separate issue. We are sadly desensitised to it now and it's barely taken any notice of I have heard the death toll over there is horrendous but it is one of the mental attitudes we have to tragedy's such as this we hurt harder for are own or those we count as are kin me being a brit and I just feel people we should respect the dead here and not bring Iraq into this thread it just well it seems wrong if that's okay me saying.

Thankyou for postimg this , I just cannot sit through a single news cast. I'ts all such a tragedy and one thing I heard last night was how the students will have to start looking at how to move forward and beyond this. They had not even had time to process anything! I hate how the media tries to push people to resolve their pain during tragedy. Have we any family and friends on this site of the victims?

This is great! I'm so glad you did this.
It's nice to see information on the victims instead of having to hear so much about the villain. Thanks.

lonewolf, antar,

Your welcome.

I too tought that the victims needed a place of their own here.

Sometimes web sites with profiles of people and pictures close down and is no longer accessible.

I thought they would last a long time here on the ats. Because they keep everything.

[edit on 18-4-2007 by Shar]